The delicately embroidered swaying hairpin on the corner of the brocade pouch.
That image flashed before Wei Shubin’s eyes, and suddenly her hair stood on end as a vague, terrifying suspicion formed in her mind.
Before the fire at Ganye Temple in the imperial garden, two widowed former palace ladies had lived there with their daughters. The former Crown Princess Zheng, whose childhood name was Guanyin, was familiar to Wei Shubin from what many people had told her. The former Princess of Qi, Lady Yang, was mostly called “Princess of Hailing” or “Princess Yang,” though Chai Yinglu often referred to her as “Fourth Aunt.” Few people mentioned her name – in all her time mixing in and out of the palace, Wei Shubin seemed to have heard it only once.
But she had heard it once.
Earlier, when she glimpsed that tiny swaying hairpin design, even in her panic she had felt something was amiss. Thinking back carefully now, at Cihe Nunnery, when she and Chai Yinglu had found Lady Yang, the stunning beauty had referred to herself by name, saying: “Back then, Third Sister treated me and the fathers of A-Si and A-Liu with such kindness and grace, Buyao doesn’t want to implicate her family.” So the great beauty Yang’s name must have been “Buyao” (Swaying Steps).
Outside the bed curtain, the Emperor gave a dry laugh, seemingly a bit embarrassed, but didn’t deny it. He only said:
“So you know? That’s good then. I didn’t want to trouble you all this time, but keeping it hidden forever wouldn’t work either. Since you know, I’ll leave it to you from now on. After all, the women and children in the back palace are under your jurisdiction as the empress…”
Yang Buyao had become pregnant after nine years of widowhood, and the father was suspected to be Crown Prince Li Chengqian. In her confused state, Wei Shubin first thought perhaps Li Chengqian had hidden this from his mother but told his father. Men were generally more tolerant of such matters – maybe after learning of it, the Emperor not only didn’t blame his son but helped cover it up… But the Empress’s response immediately dispelled her mistaken speculation:
“Indeed, all imperial and noble ladies, both internal and external, are under my jurisdiction. Is Yang to be counted among the four consorts, nine concubines, and eighty-one ladies of the inner palace, or the external princesses and noble ladies? If she bears a son, should the child be registered and enfeoffed according to his biological father’s bloodline? Or according to his mother’s current rank, as the posthumous son of the late Prince of Hailing?”
The bed curtain before Wei Shubin’s face trembled slightly as if the Empress had grown tired after speaking and sat down on the edge of the bed, separated from Minister Wei’s eldest daughter by only a layer of curtain, her voice becoming even clearer:
“If he’s counted as the son of the Prince of Hailing, his brothers were all executed and their lineages exterminated for their father’s attempted rebellion. Should this infant be dealt with the same way, or will Your Majesty show mercy, spare his life, and let him inherit the Hailing princedom? If he inherits, it must be recorded in the clan registers, and the national history can’t avoid making a note of it – doesn’t there need to be some explanation that will convince people? Should we say Fourth Brother Yuanji appeared in a dream to unite with her, resulting in divine conception? Or that she carried the child for ten years, an auspicious sign of a prosperous age? This concerns the face of the imperial bloodline – I should request everyone’s decision before following orders to handle it.”
The biting sarcasm in the Empress’s words made even Wei Shubin break out in a cold sweat behind the curtain, and the Emperor, who had been her husband for over twenty years, understood even better. The man’s voice gave another dry laugh, lowering his tone with some caution:
“You’re not angry, are you?”
The Empress didn’t answer. The shadowy figure behind the curtain swayed as if turning away to face away from her husband. Then the bed frame shook twice as the male figure appeared – the Emperor had also sat down beside his wife:
“Are you really angry?”
His tone carried no shame or remorse, only surprise as if he had never imagined his wife would take issue with his romantic affairs – the current palace had six courts full of consorts, and the imperial children born to concubines numbered more than twenty, yet there had never been any word of Empress Zhangsun having any jealous disputes with the other consorts. The Emperor probably truly believed his wife didn’t take such matters to heart at all.
The Empress heaved a long sigh, whether from heartache or weary amusement was unclear, and only replied:
“Don’t you know what I’m angry about?”
“How could I understand the thoughts of you women—” the Emperor swallowed the rest of his sentence, probably seeing his wife’s unfavorable expression and not daring to provoke her further.
“She is your brother’s lawful wife, a princess officially appointed by the court!” Empress Zhangsun’s voice carried bone-deep weariness. “And her husband was killed by your hand—”
“Not by me, by Jingde—”
“—How well it sounds, killing a husband to seize his wife, taking your own brother’s widow! Hm? Since your ascension to the throne, you’ve humbly sought counsel, practiced frugality and self-restraint, implemented benevolent governance to comfort the people, and endured so many grievances yourself – for what? And now, just because of such a woman—”
After this exchange of words, both fell silent, each swallowing their temper and sulking. The Emperor muttered something, then said unhappily, “If I’d known it would trouble you so much, I really shouldn’t have brought it up…”
“Then Your Majesty should have kept your personal intimate belongings properly organized, not carelessly dropping them everywhere.” The Empress retorted coldly. Her husband seemed somewhat confused:
“What? Oh— that, that sachet isn’t— I forget how many days ago, she sent it through Yang Shidao with a letter asking how I planned to settle her mother and child. I was busy then, saw it but didn’t deal with it, and then forgot about it. Forgot about it – don’t know how it suddenly appeared again today—”
Hiding behind the curtain wall, Wei Shubin felt guilty, guessing it was due to her tugging. The Empress gave a choking laugh:
“Forgot? You… ah, I feel Yang is being shortchanged!”
The shadow of the man in front of the curtain wall raised his arm to scratch the back of his head, laughing, “It wasn’t anything important! Just last autumn, during a hunt in the imperial garden, we met during a rainstorm and took shelter at Zixu Temple where I saw her. She looked as if she’d taken an elixir of immortality, which surprised me a bit, and so we talked and chatted… uh…”
And then the talking led to bed, and to become pregnant must have happened more than once… Wei Shubin thought of Yang Buyao’s dazzling beauty and delicate grace and understood. For the current Emperor, this was quite natural, nothing important at all.
The Empress sighed, “Late last year and early this year, people were whispering in my ear about a beauty secretly serving Your Majesty in the eastern part of the imperial garden. I didn’t believe it at all – why would such things need to be hidden? But it turns out… ah, poor Chengqian, carrying such a black pot for his father for so long!”
“Haha haha…”
The Emperor burst out laughing, asking between laughs, “You thought A-Yang was with Chengqian? Who told you that? Haha, if Chengqian had such courage, daring to make advances on his fourth aunt, I would—”
Li Yuanji, Wei Shubin thought in another moment of silence, if you dare to act like your second brother, this unprincipled, heartless rake who lusts without restraint, I will kill you.